[media-credit name=’RAY PFEIFFER/Herald photo’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]After journalists spent months on the campaign trail questioning candidates statewide, University of Wisconsin students turned the questioning on the journalists at a panel discussion Wednesday night.

The panel included Zac Schultz, from NBC15 in Madison; Partick Marley, who works out of the state Capitol for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; and J.R. Ross, editor of WisPolitics.com. Each came with extensive experience from their coverage along the campaign trail leading up through the Nov. 7 election.

"The campaigns are really scripted, and they were bitchier and bigger pains in the ass this year than they have ever been in the 15 years I have been in the media," said Ross, who also worked for The Associated Press for almost 10 years and as a Capitol bureau chief in Madison for six years.

Much of the panel discussion covered the plethora of polling that occurred throughout the campaign leading up to the election.

"I think [polls] are not very meaningful," Marley said. "[But] I think you have to include [them] contextually if the race is particularly tight."

Yet Ross — who said his website is for "political junkies" who would understand polls better than the average person — added polls do affect campaign strategies.

"For the campaigns, however, the polling helps drive their decisions," he said. "If they're putting a message out for five days in a row and all of a sudden a poll comes out and shows they're not doing well, they'll change their message."

While Marley dealt in the context of print and online media and Ross dealt in the context of online media, Schultz kept his focus on the unique qualities of broadcast journalism, particularly television.

Schultz, who attended UW, said that informing an audience is difficult through the TV medium, as it provides 10-12 minutes of snapshot news in 30 minutes instead of the expanded page space provided in print media.

"It's fairest to [candidates] to say here's your chance in five minutes to tell everything you want to say to our viewers who are going to be able to tune in," he said. "If the viewers want more, there is always the newspapers, there's always the blog sites. Thankfully the information is there."

But Schultz added that unfortunately a lot of voters don't become informed on their own, and that TV acts as a "cheat sheet" to show what candidates think about certain issues.

And the issue of objectivity in the media drew a lively response from each panelist.

"Just because I cover this stuff doesn't mean I shouldn't be able to cast a ballot," Marley said, adding he checks his bias at the door.

Ross was also critical of the biased reporters that exist in his profession.

"If you care who wins an election, you shouldn't be in this business," Ross said. "You can personally care, but if you care at work, then you shouldn't be a reporter. The ones who care are the ones who give [journalists] a bad name."

The panel, which was originally to include Stacy Forster from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, was sponsored by the UW chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.